Shocking Day

I had a snocking day. 

I mean a shocking day.

I needed one. 

They, exercise physiologists, athletes, and coaches, say you need to shock your body from time to time. Not with electricity, but with movement, with volume, with new workouts. I did that Tuesday.

You know I have been whining a bit about all the monkey wrenches that keep getting tossed into the machine of my Chicot training. This week has been good so far and Tuesday was great.

Maybe the numbers aren't that big. Maybe they will be much larger later. They need to be. But Tuesday, after first hanging out with Luvie, drinking coffee, and blogging, I went out for a 5.2 mile run and a .19 mile walk. That was workout number one.

Workout number two happened when I drove to DSU for the lunch opening. As soon as I walked in I was shocked (see what I did there?) because the pool was still short course. Anyway, I swam

4,300 in 1:16:24 (1:46)
4 X 25 @ :45
600 small paddles
total - 5,000 yards = 4,570 meters.

Workout number three was at the pond, my current favorite. I now know that water is called Lee Watts #30. I did not swim, however, because the water was crazy choppy, and I knew workout four was coming so I just walked 3.41 miles.

Workout number four? You guessed it. I went back to DSU for Masters and was shocked (see what I did there?) when I walked in to a long course pool. Finally. And yes, I could tell the difference. Long course, 50 meters as opposed to short course, 25 yards, is better for endurance training. Meters are almost ten percent longer than yards. Not only that, but you double the distance, and add the ten percent before you flip and get a muscle break. That does NOT equal a ten percent increase in strokes for the same number of yards/meters. It equals about a thirty percent increase in stokes! That's right. If you don't believe it, get in the pool and count them yourself. You see, when the pool is set up for long course, you loose half the flip turns and all that gliding you do off the wall. My personal stroke count for 50 yards is 36; for 50 meters it is 51. And the yards are broken with a flip turn and glide in the middle. Now, which one of those do you think is better training for open water swimming where there are no walls at all? Yeah, it ain't socket rience.

I swam

1,200 in 23:25 (2:03)
8 X 50 @ 1:30
400 7:39 (1:54)
6 X 50 @ 1:30
300 in 5:14 (1:44)
4 X 50 @ 1:30
200 easy
total - 3,000 meters.

I did not do any extra. I was pretty much done. It was a good day, the kind that makes me relax a bit. I went home and watched a little of Moonshiners and then fell asleep and slept like I was drugged or something. 

I also got to talk to Danielle for the first time in a few weeks. I gave her some info on the swim, and she is still on board to do some support swimming for me. Thank you Lord.